Sylvania



(No Model.)

T. ExPHILLIPS. SLIVER FORMING MACHINE.

No.55'7,427. Patented Mar.31, 1896.

v Y W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS E. PHILLIPS, OF BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO IVILLIAM J. HAND AND JAS. J. H. HAMILTON, OF SORANTON, PENN- SYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,427, dated March 31, 1896. Applicati n file September 5, 1895. Serial No. 561,570. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. PHILLIPS, of Bloomington, in the county of Monroe and State of Indiana, have invented certain new 5 and useful Improvements in Sliver-Forming Mechanisms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of refer- IO ence marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement in sliverforming mechanisms for twine and rope spinning machines, its object being to form loose I 5 fibers into a substantially uniform and continuous sliver which can be operated on directly by the spinning mechanism and which will be rapid and reliable in operation and economical in construction.

The invention therefore consists in the constructions and combinations of parts set forth in the claims, and is particularly described as follows,referenoe being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of the sliverforming mechanism. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section therethrough on line 2 2,Fig. 1.

In said drawings, A designates a rotary disk fixed on the end of a shaft a, which can be 0 driven by any suitable means. (Not shown.)

This disk has an upstanding flange B on its periphery, vertically slotted at intervals, as at b, to constitute guides for vibratory levers O, which are pivoted at their inner ends between ears a on the face of the disk. On the outer ends of said levers, which project slightly beyond the edge of the disk, are secured nippers D, and, as shown, the ends of the levers C may be bent down to form the inner jaws of the nippers, while the outer jaw d of each nipper is pivoted to the bend of the levers and has an upstanding tang d, against which presses a spring E, fastened to the lever, as indicated in the drawings. The levers O are normally 4 5 held down by springs 0 as indicated in the drawings. At one side of and below the disk is a fiber-reservoir F, in which is a followerplate F, that is raised by springs, weights, or other suitable means, so as to always press the fibers X therein upward to an opening m, into which the nippers dip as they are revolved.

Extending from the hopper around to the opposite side of the disk is a trough G, which is supported independently of the disk and does not revolve. At the side of the disk opposite the hopper the 'trou gh extends a short distance tangential to the disk toward a rotatable cone R, which may be constructed and operated in the ordinary way. A stationary semicircular cam H is supported close to the edge of the disk on the side opposite trough G, the cam being so adjusted that the ends of the levers 0 contact therewith and ride up thereon just before they strike the tangential extension of the trough and pass off the cam just over opening m, so that the nippers can drop into said opening and pass in their lowered position around trough G.

Just before the nippers drop into the opening on the tangs d contact with a stationary cam I, which extends partly over opening 'm and is so situated and shaped that it will cause the nippers to open just before and remain open when they drop into opening an among the fibers X in the reservoir, and when clear of the cam I the nippers close upon the fibers and pull the nipped fibers out into and around trough G until the nippers are again opened by a stationary cam J, which is arranged above the trough at a suitable point and is so shaped that the nippers will be opened just before they contact with cam H and are kept open until they have been raised and moved clear of the tangential extension of the trough.

Operation The fibers X are pressed upward to opening .m by the follower, and when disk A is rotated the nippers successively open, drop into the opening an, close upon fibers therein, and pull them around to the opposite side of the disk, where they are again opened, releasing the fibers. As the fibers are generally much greater in length than the distance between any two nippers, it results that the same fiber may be gripped at diiferent points by a number of successive nippers, and thus when its front end is released it is still pushed forward in the trough to the cone R, and each nipper is apt to pick up an additional fiber or fibers, so that the result is a uniform sliver of overlapping fibers, which in passing through cone R is condensed in the manner and for the purpose set forth in my above mentioned application.

Having thus described my invention, What I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

1. In a sliver-forming machine, the combination of the rotary disk, with a series of risin g and falling nippers mounted thereon and movable at right angles thereto, and means for opening said nippers at the proper times, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. I11 a sliver-forming machine, the combination of a radial series of vibratory levers carrying nippers 011 their outer ends, means for raising and lowering said levers at the proper times, and means for opening said nippers at the proper times, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In a sliver-forming machine, the combination of a fiber-holder, a rotary disk, a series of nippers connected to and rotated by the disk and movable perpendicularly to their plane of rotation; With means for opening the nippers as they pass through the holder, and for opening them again at the point of discharge of the fibers, substantially as an d for the purpose described.

4:. In. a sliver-formin g machine, the combination of a fibenholder, having a dischargeopening; a rotary series of radial vibratory levers, nippers 011 the outer ends thereof, a

trough, traversed by the nippers, and means for opening the nippers so as to catch and release fibers at the proper times, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of the disk, the radial vibratory levers pivoted thereto, the nippers carried by said levers, the cam for raising said nippers, and the cams for opening them at proper points of their movement, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. In a sliver-forming machine the combination of the fiber-reservoir, and the curved trough, and curved cam-plate; With the rotary disk lying between the trough and camplate, the vibratory levers carried by said disk, the nippers carried by said levers, and the cams for opening said nippers at proper points, substantially as and for the purpose described.

7. The combination of the rotary disk having an upstanding slotted flange, the levers pivoted to said disk and guided by the slots in the flange, the nippers carried by said levers, the springs for closing said nippers, and springs for depressing the levers; all substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. The combination ofthe rotary disk, the radial levers pivoted thereto, the nippers carried by said levers, the cam for raising said nippers, and the cams for opening them at proper points of their movement, with the fiber-reservoir, the curved trough, and the rotary cone, substantially as and for the purpose described.

9. The combination of the rotary disk having an upstanding slotted flange, the levers pivoted to said disk and guided by the slots in the flange, the nippers carried by said levers, the springs for closing said nippers, and the springs for depressing the levers, with the fiber-reservoir, the curved trough, the curved cam-plate, and the nipper-opening cams, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS E. PHILLIPS.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. G. LILLY, R. J. MCKINNEY. 

